search marketing

The theme for the month is personalization and we want to tackle this topic in all realms of the marketing world, using this piece to touch specifically on search.   Keywords are important and rankings are important. Our expert SEO teams have this down pat. But is there a way to look at it from a non-technical perspective? You know, the consumer perspective? That’s where we get personal.   What Affects Search Results? Every user’s search process will be different from the next (unless you’re browsing signed out, incognito, or […]

Google just recently updated their published best practices for writing HTML title tags.   In early August, Google started a new system of generating titles for pages displayed in their search results. This update led to a larger portion of HTML title tags not being displayed as the title link in Google’s search results.   Since that update, Google updated their SEO page title best practices. Here are their best practices for writing descriptive title tags with our added Pro Tips. Following these title tag best practices can help ensure […]

In order to be at the top and remain at the top, you must keep a close eye on your competitors. The Godfather spoke true facts when he said, “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer”. Who knew The Godfather would be on Team SEO?! The point is, you have to research your competitors to make sure you stay ahead of the game. Doing so with Keyword Competitive Analysis is a great start.   What is Keyword Competitive Analysis? Keyword Competitive Analysis (also call Keyword Gap Analysis) is the […]

Around August 17th, Google started a new system of generating titles for pages displayed in their search results.   Historically, in Google’s search results, they would display what you place in your HTML title tag as the title (big blue copy) and what you place in your meta description tag as the description (smaller black copy underneath the title). They may have updated your title and/or description based on the specific query if they thought it better served the user. The description is much more likely to have changed than […]

Starting in June, Google began testing an article carousel in some journalist knowledge panels. (Photo Credit: Blog.Google)   Google’s explanation for the update includes, “With so many complex, important stories unfolding daily, people not only rely on specific publishers for the latest news, but also increasingly turn to trusted individual journalists, authors and experts.” Learn more from Google here.   This aligns with Google’s push to showcase expert, authoritative, and trustworthy content. This is commonly referred to as E-A-T (expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness) in the SEO community. Google wants to […]

The internet is a big place. According to estimates from Internet Live Stats, there are over 1.8 billion unique websites in existence today and this number is only going up. This mind-boggling statistic is awe inspiring but at the same time more than a little intimidating, especially for local business owners.   If you are a local business owner, you may be wondering how your website is supposed to compete in a search landscape that can contain literally millions of competitors. This is where local search engine optimization (SEO) comes […]

On June 2nd, 2021, Google announced a broad core algorithm update, as they do a few times a year. This newest update is called the June 2021 Core Update. These updates typically take a couple of weeks to fully roll out.   A second core update will be coming in July 2021 as well. Some of the planned updates were not quite ready for the June launch, so it is planned to be launched in July 2021. Later today, we are releasing a broad core update, as we do several […]

If you’re a digital marketer and have been residing anywhere but under a rock, you’ve heard about browsers phasing out third-party cookies by 2022. What felt like forever is now on our doorstep, and it will impact everything from website and conversion tracking to audience targeting. While we’re still not sure how all the varying data companies are going to adjust and aren’t going to go into the specifics of how it all works, let’s talk about what you can do to prepare starting right now.   Instant Forms One […]

For the past several years, the concept of increasing consumer data privacy has been gaining momentum and has been slowly impacting how marketers use your data. GDPR and CCPA regulations have driven awareness of this movement, and big data collection companies like Google, Facebook, and Apple have been shifting to meet the increasing demand for more data privacy. Last summer, Apple made the announcement that their iOS 14 update would include significant privacy updates that will affect all apps. Starting this month, these privacy updates (called App Tracking Transparency) will […]

Writer’s Block when Blogging—we have all experienced it. We sit down and are all set to write, but we don’t know what to write about. A million different topics run through our brain, but which do we choose? What do readers want to see? How can we attract our target audience? We want to write about a topic that has meaning and will also be ranked high for organic visibility so everyone can read it and to do so we must include SEO.   How to Find Blog Topics that […]

It’s hard to comprehend how small paid media ads used to be. My earliest working memories involve having to abbreviate company names to fit into a headline and split 70 characters evenly across two description fields with 35-character limits on some platform called Overture. The first Facebook ads I created had limited text and imagery so small you could barely make out what the product was (which didn’t stop me from buying a Denny Crane bobblehead from an ad).   Today, ad copy character limits have increased dramatically, allowing media […]

In Summer 2020, with the killing of George Floyd and the soul searching many of us found ourselves doing, many brands began increasing their focus on diversity and inclusion. Seemingly overnight the imagery used in social and display ads became more African American, Asian, or Hispanic (if not also more female). Even the cynics among us would have to recognize, though, that this trend should continue and should be taken seriously.   Digital advertising provides an array of options for promoting inclusion, along with an assortment of hazards to navigate. […]

As you may have already known, Google announced late last year that they are unveiling a brand-new ranking factor for Google Search in May of this year. The new ranking factor, Core Web Vitals, is being combined with existing page experience ranking signals like mobile friendliness and HTTPS security. We’re announcing that page experience ranking signals for Google Search will launch in May 2021. This will combine Core Web Vitals and previous UX-related signals. Learn more: https://t.co/OrrR8LDl1a — Google Search Central (@googlesearchc) November 10, 2020 If you weren’t aware of […]

It is easy to report on your organic traffic data. But how do you show the value of your SEO efforts?   How to Measure ROI on SEO   (SEO Conversions Value – SEO Expenses) / SEO Expenses = SEO ROI   You measure the return on investment of your SEO efforts by subtracting your SEO expenses from your SEO conversions value and dividing that by your SEO expenses. In order to fill out the formula above – you need to find out your SEO conversions value and your SEO […]

If you have any experience with digital marketing, chances are that you’ve probably heard the term “link building” before, but what is it exactly? And why is it such a big deal in the world of search engine optimization? To answer this question, we’ll first have to examine what search engines use links for.   How do search engines use links? There are two fundamental ways that the search engines use links: 1.     To discover new web pages 2.     To help determine how well a page should rank in their […]

Understanding link building and identifying link building opportunities is only half the battle when it comes to implementing an effective link building strategy. What really separates a great link building campaign from a not-so-great campaign is your ability to determine what is a “good” link building opportunity and what is not. To help with this, we’ve boiled the complicated link qualification process down into a simple eight item checklist:   Use common sense! Ask yourself: 1.    Is the placement relevant to the niche? This is arguably the most important factor […]

Contrary to popular belief, keyword research is not just for SEOs. You can use keyword research practices to get a better understanding of your audience’s wants, needs, questions, concerns, and more. I also cover this topic with a little more detail in my How SEO Can Boost Your Marketing Automation Efforts talk and blog post. Free Keyword Research Tools Google Google Search Console Google Trends Answer the Public Keyworddit ahrefs Keyword Generator   1. Google Just search a general topic in your industry or a keyword for which you’d like […]

On Thursday, May 28th, 2020 Google announced a new ranking signal that combines Core Web Vitals with their existing page experience signals (mobile-friendliness, safe-browsing, HTTPS, no intrusive interstitials).   This new ranking factor will not go live until at least 2021 and Google will provide at least a 6-month notice. See Google’s announcement here.   This is similar to other UX centered initiatives at Google (see the “Mobilegeddon” mobile-friendly update, the page speed update, the HTTPS update, and the interstitials update as examples) where they preannounce an algorithm update / […]

You must be able to understand why organic search traffic (Google traffic, Bing traffic, etc.) declined before you can implement the best strategy to improve it. That was the topic for week two of Weekly Emsights: COVID-19 edition, which you can watch here: If you look at your organic traffic in your reporting platform and you see meaningful declines – here is a list of questions to help you diagnose this loss further:  Questions to help you diagnose organic search traffic declines  Are there any current events?  Is the decline unique to organic […]

Date updated: 4/17/2020 Since the onset of the coronavirus crisis in the U.S., we have had multiple clients approach us with uncertainty and questions. How is the coronavirus affecting current user behaviors? How do we think it will affect ongoing, long-term search behaviors? The truth is, we’re experiencing this for the first time along with everyone else. But as a data-driven agency, we wanted to dive in and provide some insight into current trends and we put our heads together to discuss. We analyzed all our client data to see […]

Writing this from my home in Prairie Village (Kansas) rather than the emfluence office in the Crossroads (Kansas City, Missouri), I can only muse that the old saying “the only constant in life is change” seems like a huge understatement. COVID-19 has certainly upended all of our lives, especially those in the service, healthcare, & hospitality industries. I’m left to reflect on how this crisis is affecting the Paid Media landscape, not because it’s the most important aspect of our lives, but because sometimes it’s good to focus on what […]

The core component of running a successful website in this day and age can be succinctly summarized in one word: content. This should come as no surprise to most of us, I mean who hasn’t heard the cliché “content is king” before? Now, I don’t mean to suggest this statement is untrue–I’d actually argue that it’s as true as it’s ever been–just that this emphasis on content can very easily evolve into an overemphasis on content, which can in turn overshadow other essential parts of a managing your site.   […]

Welcome to 2020! New decade, new you. There are dozens of new trends in digital marketing every year, so I wanted to take some time to highlight a few that I think are the most important or potentially impactful (generally). These trends are personal opinion, of course.   Business Intelligence and Data Analytics Drive Business Decision-Making In my personal opinion, business intelligence and advanced data analytics are probably the most important trends to follow in 2020. As digital marketers, there is no shortage of data to create compelling “data driven” […]

It’s been a few weeks since Google began rolling out its latest major search algorithm update, BERT, and many members of the SEM community still have questions about what this change means for search engine optimization and content marketing. For good reason, too. The sheer amount of speculation and “expert” guides that were published just days after the update was announced have made separating algorithmic fact from fiction difficult.   Thankfully, we’ve done most of the heavy lifting for you and put together a no-nonsense guide breaking down the key […]

No matter how long you’ve been doing this, it can happen: your Paid Media can get stagnant. It’s happened to me. The Search campaigns are humming along but not necessarily growing. You’ve found every relevant search query under the sun, and your negative keyword list is tight enough to keep most bad searches out. You’re tweaking your audiences, demographics, and ad scheduling to make sure performance maintains despite additional competition and Google’s ever rising Cost Per Click (oh so that’s how their stock price keeps going up). You’re dipping a […]

Does your site have a history of revisions like adding, removing, or editing pages or updates to the site architecture or menu structure? Or did a site migration go poorly? Check out our SEO site migration checklist here. Chances are you have a lot of old URLs that were never redirected to the latest live URL. If a URL is updated or removed, you want to make sure you always 301 redirect users and search engine crawlers to the new URL or the most relevant, live location. What are 301 […]

What if your ads could literally stand out? What if your ads stand out so well, they appeared to be touchable as if you could physically interact? Insert 3D ads. These ads help bring an image to life and offer an interactive experience to consumers.   3D ads consist of an interactive 3D model embedded into a banner ad. These ads allow consumers to view and interact with a product from multiple angles in extreme detail. Let’s say you’re selling a pair of tennis shoes. The shoes would appear as […]